More black than white as SNP censor panda letters

The SNP Government has been accused of taking secrecy to new levels after heavily censoring documents about giant pandas.

We used Freedom of Information laws to ask ministers to disclose details of their involvement in bringing Tian Tian and Yang Guang from China to Edinburgh Zoo.

Our reporter requested copies of any letters in which the pandas were mentioned and minutes from official meetings between 2007 and 2014.

But, in a recurring theme for the SNP administration, this was rejected because the seven-year period was deemed too long.

We narrowed our scope to look at the six months leading up to the arrival of the bears in Scotland and the last six months.

The Scottish Government responded by emailing us two blacked-out letters from Alex Salmond to the then Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang in 2011 and 2012. They have been so heavily redacted only a handful of words remain.

Carole Ewart, of the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland, said she was amazed at the lack of transparency.

“We view the redacted letter with some disappointment,” she said. “The presumption should be for disclosure unless one of the exemptions really has to be activated. There should have been an understanding that disclosure would be required and for the Government to lead by example.”

The SNP has repeatedly come under fire for overseeing a culture of cover-up at the heart of government.

Three years ago it was accused of hiding its role in Edinburgh’s disastrous trams project when it heavily censored almost every line in 17 pages of documents released under FoI about the scheme.

Several months later it blacked out all the key figures in a controversial business case for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children.

And earlier this year senior officials in the NHS were accused of concealing the truth after heavily censoring an email which showed Health Secretary Alex Neil oppose a health shake-up in his constituency.

The latest row last month saw health officials come in for criticism again for blacking out minutes of a high-level meeting between the Scottish Government and top NHS personnel.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “In this particular case, we have not withheld any of the information requested by The Sunday Post.

“The specific question only asked about discussions about pandas. As was made clear in the response, some information was redacted because it did not relate to pandas.

“We have the most robust FoI regime in the UK and are committed to continuing to promote openness, transparency and accountability.”